Blonde turned black.
The lively nightclub inside the 11 Howard hotel closed its doors permanently last weekend after a recent Halloween blowout, as a new operator took over the hotel this week.
We hear the most devoted revelers at the celebrity haunt had no idea it was going to end.
A source told Page Six that guests only learned of the closure when the DJ announced the bomb over the microphone during the party Saturday night.
“It was packed,” one club-goer told us. “No one knew. The spot was doing great and was busy on the weekends with long lines. There was a great energy for Halloween. People didn’t realize it was the last night until the DJ said on the mic that it was off.”
The move comes as a high-stakes real estate battle concludes behind velvet ropes.
Page Six has learned that an agreement has been reached between hotel owner Aby Rosen and his partners at RFR Holding, which leases the space, and landlord Commerz Real. The groups were in the midst of numerous legal disputes; Commerz Real claimed it was owed millions in rent, according to court documents, while RFR claimed the landlords had breached their contract by breaching a buyback option.
RFR, founded by Rosen and Michael Fuchs in the early ’90s, was said this week to have returned the property to the homeowners as part of the deal.
The Real Deal reports that hospitality group Ennismore, which operates hotel brands including Hoxton, Mondrian, Delano and SLS, has taken over as operator.
“11 Howard is a wonderful hotel with an extraordinary future,” Rosen told Page Six. “We are excited to see it enter its next chapter with an operator we trust and who has a long history of taking the property to new heights.”
A representative for Ennismore and Commerz Real did not respond to our request for comment.
Rosen opened The Blond in March 2016 with three nights of star-studded previews, attracting the likes of Cuba Gooding Jr., Darren Aronofsky, Lyor Cohen and Rose McGowan, according to reports at the time.
The club quickly became a downtown hotspot, with banquets hosting an ever-changing lineup of Hollywood royalty and fashion power players, including Hailey Bieber, A$AP Rocky, Prabal Gurung and Calvin Klein.
We reported that even Rudy Giuliani once attended a birthday party honoring writer Bob Colacello, rubbing elbows with Mary-Kate Olsen, Barbara Walters, art dealers Mary Boone and Doris Ammann, as well as artists Tom Sachs and Francesco Vezzoli.
In 2022, Page Six caught Madonna shivering through the art-adorned space at a party for chic designer LaQuan Smith’s Fashion Week bash.
And the club wasn’t just a celebrity playground. In 2024, The New York Post reported that it had become a favorite of Wall Street’s fat-pocketed summer interns.
“Most rich kids go to The Blond, Little Sister’s or Paul’s,” a Goldman source told the newspaper, noting that cocktails can cost $20 and bottle service can exceed $1,000.
There is still an active liquor license at the address, which means the new owners could potentially open a new location to see and be seen.